Growing Pains: New Beginnings

It’s been a while since I wrote a new article. I know that, much like in academia, in a social media driven world it’s publish or die.

Sometimes you just don’t have the time to…

  • Run your ever growing business (I can’t say thank you enough, by the way!!!)
  • Run your training groups
  • Meet with people to extend your network so as to offer greater service to your clientele (Those things that will set you apart from every other “gym”)
  • Study for new certifications (Did I mention that I just started the Precision Nutrition Level 1 program?)
  • Make a new Youtube video of yourself or somebody else doing a front squat (you know, to add to the other 700,000 front squat videos on Youtube)
  • Get your own training in
  • Develop your website
  • Streamline your business
  • Work on your advertising plan (What the heck is that!?)
  • Order new equipment and maintain current equipment
  • Eat
  • Sleep
  • Do laundry
  • Make sure you answer that email you meant to respond to yesterday (10 days ago, sorry Haley! 🙁 )
  • Oh yeah, and make sure all your I’s are crossed and your T’s are dotted when moving into a larger more awesome facility (Yeah!!!! That is happening!)

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So writing a new blog fell off the back of the metaphorical truck. Chalk it up to growing pains though. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s a struggle, sometimes you just want to bang your head against the wall, but sometimes (ok, all the time) you want to high five the random person walking into Starbucks just because, well, it’s awesome out there.

That’s where tenacity comes in. If it were easy everybody would do it, right? Actually though, if it were EASY, nobody would be afraid to do it. This is true for training, for racing, and for losing weight.

Just remember that the simple things that are your habits will carry you through. Lift heavy, push your boundaries, run till your lungs hurt. It’s bumpy, and the hills are long, and the water is cold, and the weights like to stay on the ground, and the paperwork is endless. Encourage others to do the same, treasure the view, revel in the silence that creeps into your ears as uncomfortable exertion drowns out the noise, and just enjoy the ride you’re on.

Enjoy the growing pains, because if they are ever gone, then you are either dead or complacent, and that’s just boring.

Questioning Your Comfort Zone

C Snatch

Foreword: Colleen Pierre

When Colleen walked into Contemporary Athlete I was just as unsure about her, as she was about me, and what this place is all about. After the first session I expected, like most people that drop in, never to come back (By keeping my expectations low I get to be really, really excited when you come back!). I didn’t hear from her for a while, then Colleen called me and wanted to train, 1 time, then another, then two times a week, then three… Then there was a goal. With that goal came something so fun for me to be apart of, the unadulterated drive for a goal. Not random “exertainment” but, “Here I am, and this is where I am going.”

Everybody has the potential for greatness. The question is are you willing to suffer just a little to figure out what it is? -Bender

265# pull

(Colleen @ #115, pulling 265#. Like A BOSS!)

I was really good at setting goals in my business, goals for my children, for my finances, goals for eating healthy and goals for just about every area of my life.  They were real, they were defined, and they kept me honest and always striving.

When it came to fitness, my goals were non-existent. I wasn’t really unhealthy or particularly out of shape, so all was trending very status-quo for the past probably 10 years. My standard week included a couple spin classes, some bootcamp-style thingy, maybe a little weight circuit thrown in the mix.  I had two pregnancies during that time that yielded two healthy kids (Robby now 6 and Angie, 4).  I wasn’t overweight, I had energy, I looked and felt fine.  And this is where I could have stayed parked for the next 10 years of my life or more.  It would have been okay, not awesome, not epic, not impressive. This is where a lot of people stay very comfortably parked.  Why? They either lack goals or haven’t set the right type of goals.

When I first came to Contemporary Athlete, I was a little overwhelmed and I didn’t feel like it was a good fit for me.  It was unlike any ‘gym workout’ or fitness environment that I had known prior.  I saw people doing pretty impressive things but I couldn’t quite see myself being one of them.  I left feeling quite certain I wouldn’t come back.  But then it started….this nagging feeling that I should do more than ‘play it safe’, that perhaps I was intended for a greater challenge.  I decided to go back to Contemporary Athlete.

That was 10 months ago and I’ve been training regularly ever since the day I made that decision.  The work is hard, both mentally and physically.  I experience many highs and proud moments and push through the low moments that make me better.  I’m stronger than I’ve ever been physically and in the best shape I have ever been in.  I discovered my niche in Olympic weightlifting and finally have goals.  This coming September I will be competing in my first powerlifting competition.  It will be a challenge for me, but I’m feeling more and more prepared to accept the challenge.  Deciding to train with Dave at Contemporary Athlete has been one of the best decisions I’ve made for myself.

I’m on a journey.  There are bumps in the road, many challenges, highs and lows, bruises, tears, sweat.  But there is a community of people who understand because they are walking (or sprinting, jumping, squatting or lifting) beside me.  We all have goals and dreams and every time we walk through the doors of Contemporary Athlete, we are all moving an inch closer to achieving them.

This journey has made me understand a few simple truths…

If your goals don’t inspire you, it might be time to reevaluate them.

Growth will never happen in your comfort zone.

Don’t fear the unfamiliar, you might be missing something amazing.

C Snatch

Colleen Pierre

Owner of SaratogaMama (website & magazine)
Join me: Instagram, Twitter

Grip Strength: Easy solutions

High iron content? Just add rice!

Rice 2

A little while ago, I was asked about fat bar grips, grip strength, and what to buy. As I have finally got back into my regular routine (albeit slowly), I immediately thought about this question. My answer was simple:

Start playing with your food.

As you might imagine, I got a rather questioning look in response.

Here is a really simple and inexpensive way to increase your strength on the cheap, and it’s highly effective: go buy yourself a 20 lbs bag of rice and a bucket. With these tools, you can break through any of your max-lifting plateaus. And, it only takes 5 minutes of work, as part of your warm up, everyday or every other day.

When lifting heavy, generally what fails on you are your small muscle groups; in this case, hands, wrists, and forearms, when it comes to deadlifts, cleans, snatches, and jerks.

Here are the basics:

With your hands, either individually, or together, claw your way to the bottom of the bucket. Reset your hands back to the top. Rinse and repeat.

Knead your way around the circle, both clockwise, and counter-clockwise.

The snowball. Take a handful of rice and pack it between your hands until all the grains no longer remain.

This is more for the shoulders, but treat your hand like a paddle and make big figure 8s in your bucket.

These are a few good starters, but essentially all you have to do is play. As long as your hands are moving and your fingers; you are doing the work.